Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter
by dnachemlia
Summary: Written for the NFA Supernatural Challenge, Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge. After a devastating loss, McGee discovers a secret about his team leader and the world he thought he knew. Post Season 7, AU
1. Prologue

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_ and _Death Fic Challenge_

Chapter 1 of 5 (or maybe 6), will be finished by mid-March

**Rating**: T/ PG-13 – Gen

**Genre**: Horror/Supernatural; AU

**Warnings**: Death Fic (obviously), angst, violence, gore, some language, and the usual weirdness you expect from me, including total abuse of show cannon.

**Main Characters**: Gibbs, McGee, Mike Franks; appearances by other regular NCIS characters and guests

**Summary**: After a devastating loss, McGee discovers a secret about his team leader and the world he thought he knew. Post Season 7

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda

**Author Notes**: This story was inspired by, but is **not** a crossover with, Seth Grahame-Smith's book _Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter _(which, despite its rather ridiculous-sounding title, is actually quite good). No infringement is intended. This story is also **not** crack!fic (as the book was written to be 'serious' and so this story follows that model). Some elements are drawn from the book, but you do not need to have read it to understand what's going on.

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**FACTS**

**1. For over 400 years, since the very beginnings of America, vampires have existed in this country. They stayed in the shadows and, in small numbers, thrived. Very few humans believed in them.**

**2. In the last 100 years, a new threat to the American public has arisen. As a result, the vampire population has grown in number and they have gained monetary and political power.**

**3. A small group of dedicated men and women have worked to eliminate the vampire threat. Some of them have kept secret records of their own lives and work. The existence of such journals, as well as the subject of them, has generally been dismissed as a myth.**

**

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_**Prologue**_

It was worst day of Tim McGee's life.

The day started, as was often the case, with a dead Marine. The team had gotten the call early that morning and they traveled to the scene to process it. What they hadn't expected was a trap.

A sniper, whose ultimate motivation they had yet to determine, had staged the scene, certain, it was believed, that the target would arrive as expected. He had lain in wait for the MCRT, and set his sights on one person: Leroy Jethro Gibbs, team leader.

As fate would have it, a slight breath of wind just as the sniper pulled the trigger caused a small deflection of the bullet's path. Not enough to miss, not enough to prevent a devastating injury, but enough to put the bullet through the side of Gibbs' head rather than the middle.

Tim would never forget the sight of blood exploding from his Boss's face, or the sound of Ziva's scream as she, too, witnessed it. Amid the chaos that followed, he crawled to Gibbs' side, terrified at what he would find, as Tony and Ziva went after the shooter. He was amazed to find that Gibbs had a pulse and was still breathing, but one look at the injury only solidified what he had believed from the beginning: Gibbs was gone.

His frantic call to 911 and the time until the arrival of the ambulance passed as a blur as he, then Ducky and Palmer, tended to the wounded man as best they could. Gibbs was still alive when he was loaded into the ambulance, accompanied by Ducky. The M.E. promised to keep them informed, but one look at his expression had further confirmed Tim's belief. As the ambulance pulled away, siren blaring, Tim stared down at his bloodstained hands and swayed slightly under the full realization of what had happened.

Tony and Ziva returned from their search and started to question him but he couldn't even find the words to explain and silently walked away, looking for something to clean the gore from his hands. He had been on automatic pilot ever since.

After hours of searching the scene, documenting the new crime, and bringing the evidence to Abby, who refused to believe the worst, they went back to their desks and waited. Tony paced incessantly, occasionally barking orders for new searches for Tim to run. Ziva sat in front of her computer, staring blankly at the screen, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Abby made multiple visits to the bullpen, each time to report her lack of finds and assure them that she wouldn't stop until she found something, and that Gibbs would be "just fine".

Tim couldn't bear to tell her what he had seen. He simply nodded and went back to whatever Tony had assigned him at the moment, occasionally stopping to scrape at the faint traces of dried blood that still remained.

Finally, after the sun had set and the shadows outside merged with the darkness, Ducky returned with news, but it was not what they had been hoping to hear.

Gibbs was dead.

Tony simply walked out. Ducky made attempts to comfort Abby, but she had refused to believe it and returned to her lab, followed by Ducky and, after he told the rest of them to go home, Vance. Tim went over to Ziva, wanting to somehow help, but she waved him off and left as well. Tim, alone in the bullpen, took one last look at Gibbs' desk, unable to reconcile himself to the fact that the man who had helped to shape him into the agent, the _man_ he had become, would never sit there again.

Finally he left as well, unsure what would await him the next day, and unable to make himself care.

When he arrived at his apartment, he was surprised to find a package sitting in the entranceway. His landlord occasionally put parcels the postal carrier left inside the apartments for the residents, so its location was not that surprising. The surprise was the return address: _M. Franks. Mexico._ Why would Gibbs' mentor send him something? He took another look and noticed that there was no postal stamp to indicate when it had been sent.

Tim pulled a spare pair of gloves from his backpack and carefully picked up the package. It was heavy for its size, but not extremely so, and wrapped in brown paper. He went back to his backpack, searched it, and pulled out a field test kit for common components of explosives. After getting a negative result, he finally decided to open the package.

Inside was a set of soft-bound notebooks. The one on top looked to be the oldest, as its pages were yellowed and worn at the edges. He opened it to find a much newer piece of paper tucked between the cover and the first page. He opened it and read the short note.

_McGee,_

_If you are reading this, then I am dead. There are things that you need to know, and I trust you to use the information in these books wisely. I swear to you, everything you will read is true. _

_Good luck,_

_Gibbs._

Tim felt a lump in his throat as he read the familiar writing, thinking how he had such trouble with it at the beginning of his career, when it had seemed like some sort of code to decipher. Now he could read it with ease…

He put the note on his desk, picked up the first notebook, and settled into his desk chair. He opened the cover and read the eight words on the first page:

_**This is the journal of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.**_

Tim had to smile. Straight and to the point, just like Boss. The smile disappeared as he remembered: "Boss" was gone. He sighed and turned to the next page, read the first sentence, and froze, nausea rising in his throat.

_No…_

He skimmed the next few pages and the word that had caused that terrible feeling kept popping up, over and over.

Vampire.

Tim dropped the book on his desk and let his head fall into his hands, before looking up and staring at it in anger.

_Who? Who would do this? Not even Tony would stoop low enough to play such a sick—_

"It's not a joke, McGee."

Startled, Tim turned toward the source of the familiar voice and stared. It took him a few moments to find his own voice.

"_Franks?_ What the hell…? What are you doing here?"

"Jethro asked me to bring you that package."

"But how did you… never mind. Get the hell out. And take these with you." Tim picked up the books to throw them at the man, but Franks held up his hand and Tim paused.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You need to read those. Trust me."

"Yeah, right. This is crazy! There's no way in hell Gibbs would write this. Why are you doing this to me?"

Franks just tilted his head slightly and looked at him, a gesture so resonant of Gibbs that Tim felt a new surge of anguish which quickly morphed into pure fury. Seeing the agent's rage, Franks finally responded.

"Gibbs wrote that note, you read it, his word should be good enough."

"Well then he was crazy and I never knew it! Vampires? Come on, you expect me to believe-."

"Vampires exist. Your boss hunted them, and he…was one of the best."

Tim closed his eyes, trying to reign in his anger. After a brief moment, he opened them.

Something was standing just inches in front of him. Its eyes were completely black, sunk deep in a face with skin as white as marble with pale blue veins threaded beneath. Its mouth opened slightly to reveal long, white fangs.

Tim backed up and stared in horror at the vampire. It was Mike Franks.

"Now do you believe me, McGee?"

Franks' features returned to normal as Tim continued to stare, wordlessly, at his Boss's mentor, the man he thought he knew.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to show you that Jethro wasn't crazy. And neither are you, in case you were wondering," he said with a wink.

"B-but…if Gibbs…hunted vampires, then why-?"

"Why am I helping? Not all vampires are the same, kid. Some of us…well, some of us do still remember right from wrong, and we want to make sure those that don't aren't around very long."

"S-so why not take care of the problem yourselves? Why involve-?"

"Humans? Because _they_ want to hunt vampires, and _we_ want to continue to exist. It's a win-win situation."

Tim tried to wrap his mind around what he had just learned, but there were still some things that didn't make sense.

"How…I've seen you out in the daylight. How do you manage that if you're…?"

"Those of us who have been around for awhile build up a resistance to the sun. The newer ones have to stay in the dark for the first, oh, 50 years or so. As for the other questions I'm sure you have: yes, we really do drink blood. No, we don't sleep in coffins. Garlic doesn't bother us, and neither does holy water. We can't fly, but we can jump long distances and climb really well. Obviously, you don't have to invite us before we can enter your residence. Oh, and of course, one last thing."

"What?"

"We don't sparkle."

Tim choked back a bark of hysterical laughter, and Franks grinned.

"Anything else you want to know?"

Tim sobered quickly. "Gibbs really hunted…vampires. Why? I mean, besides the obvious? Uh, no offense…"

"None taken. As for the answer to your question, you'll have to read those books. He gave them to you for a reason, McGee. He trusted you to do the right thing. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"Now, you better get started. I've got some things to attend to, but I'll be back later. Have fun, Tim." Franks walked out of the apartment and Tim collapsed into his chair, going over what he had learned.

_Vampires exist._

_Gibbs hunted them._

_He needs me to know more._

Finally, Tim picked up the oldest book, opened it and started to read.

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A/N: For anyone wondering why Gibbs had Franks give the books to McGee instead of DiNozzo, it will be covered later (and no, Tony is not a vampire).

Constructive criticism and reviews are always appreciated.


	2. Part 1 Boy

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_ and _Death Fic Challenge_

Chapter 2 of 6

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

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_**Part I - Boy**_

_**This is the journal of Leroy Jethro Gibbs**_

_**I was 10 years old the first time I came face to face with a vampire, and only dumb luck allowed me to survive to write this. It was late summer and I was with my best friend, Joe. We had been out at the lake with Joe's older brother, Brian, and we stayed too long, so in order to make it home before curfew we all decided to take a short cut through the old Parker place. Stupid thing to do, we knew, but we were more worried about the tanning we'd get if we got home after dark. Stupid, because the place had a really bad reputation; over the years quite a few people who went missing in town were last seen there. There were rumors that it was haunted, or some monster lived there, crap like that. Most thought it was just a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences, but then again, most people don't believe in vampires.**_

_**The Parker place had been abandoned for years and looked it: overgrown grass, fallen trees, broken fences, and the windows of the house were either broken or boarded up. Scary place for a couple of ten-year olds, and Brian made fun of us for most of the trip. We had just made it to the last stretch of woods before the road to town when we all heard a scream coming from the house. We ran. Joe was fastest and soon left Brian (who had never been much of a runner) and me behind. I was a few yards ahead of Brian when I heard another scream, this time a lot closer. I figured he was just trying to scare me so I kept running and I was about 100 yards from the road when something hit me. I hit the ground and rolled over, just in time to be grabbed and pulled to my feet. I expected it to be Brian. It wasn't.**_

_**Even now, almost 8 years later, I can still remember everything I saw. This thing, for it definitely **__**wasn't**__** human, was staring at me with eyes that looked like big black marbles. Its skin was white with thin blue lines under the surface, and worst of all, it had fangs. They must have been two inches long and they were dripping red…blood. I had a pretty good idea what had happened to Brian.**_

_**I stared back and reached for the knife I had in a sheath clipped to my belt. It was a small Bowie knife that my grandfather had given me the year before, a few weeks before he died. He had carried it through two wars and told me to make sure I always had it with me. Good advice.**_

_**As the thing (which I later learned was, in fact, a vampire) reached up to touch my face, I pulled out the knife and stuck it in the creature's chest as hard as I could and then pulled back, taking my knife with me. It howled and swiped at me with its claws, missing me by a hair. I slashed at it with the knife which caused it to fall back and as I turned to run I registered that this thing wasn't very big. In fact, it was my size, a kid. I didn't take time to think about that and ran as fast as I could. I reached the road and turned back to look, feeling a bit like Lot's wife. Nothing had followed me and when I turned back I was face to face with Joe. He was damn lucky I didn't stab him, too.**_

"_**Where's Brian?" he asked, almost as terrified as me. I couldn't answer and he tried to ask again as I started to run towards town as fast as I could. He eventually caught up with me.**_

"_**L.J., what happened?"**_

_**I just ran.**_

_**We reached the town and went straight to the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff was a no-nonsense guy, a friend of my Dad's, and he was the first person we saw. Joe started to tell him about the screams, and I don't think it hit him until that moment that something bad had happened to his brother. He just stopped talking and stared at me until I could finally continue the story. I told the Sheriff that something had happened to Brian when we were cutting through the old Parker place. He just shook his head.**_

"_**You know you boys are supposed to stay away from there. Place isn't safe." He had no idea.**_

"_**We were trying to get home before curfew," Joe said. "You know how my dad gets when we're late." **_

_**The Sheriff just nodded. **__**Everyone**__** in town knew about Joe's dad.**_

"_**OK, fine. But what happened? Did Brian hurt himself? Is he still out there?"**_

_**I told him I hadn't seen what happened to Brian. Well, it was the truth. Then I told him that something had tried to get me, too.**_

"_**Something**__**? What do you mean, Leroy?" **_

_**Somehow I knew right then that he'd never believe me. I had to think up a story quick, and say enough so it sounded like it really happened. People are more likely to believe a lie that's specific.**_

"_**It was a man. He had dark eyes and long messy hair, and he looked really crazy. I think he was on drugs. He tried to grab me and knocked me down, but I pulled out my knife and cut him and he ran off." I showed the Sheriff my knife, which still had a little blood on it. "I think he got Brian instead. I don't think Brian had a knife."**_

"_**Was this a big guy?" the Sheriff asked, and I could tell my lie had worked.**_

"_**Big enough." I said.**_

_**The Sheriff got all the men in town together and they went out to the Parker place. They found some blood, but no other sign of Brian or the 'man' that had taken him. **_

_**Joe's family put out fliers, the Sheriff called in the state police to expand the search, and they had me look at mug shots to see if I recognized the man, but of course I never did. Everyone kept hoping that they would find Brian, alive and safe. Everyone except me. I knew the truth. **_

_**After a month, the case was declared cold. Joe's family eventually moved away, but he hadn't spoken to me since that day anyway. Joe had lost his brother and I had lost my best friend. It was just the start of the things I would lose because of what I saw in the woods. The only good part was that I never saw that particular thing again.**_

_**After that day, I tried to figure out what I had seen and I learned about vampires. I read how to protect myself from them by reading books but I didn't know then that most of the time, the books are wrong. Now I know better.**_

**XXX**

Tim sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. The stress of the day was starting to catch up with him, but he knew he couldn't stop reading the journal long enough to sleep, even if he _could_ sleep. There was information in these books that Gibbs had wanted him to know (well, besides the origins of a couple of Gibbs' rules), and he had to press on. What he had read so far was both horrifying and enlightening. He could not imagine, as a kid, experiencing what Gibbs had. On the other hand, it did explain a lot about what had shaped the man he had known.

He picked up the book again and started to read, and the sentence at the top of the next page caused his heart to sink in his chest.

_Oh, God…_

**XXX**

_**I was twelve years old when my mother was murdered. **_

_**I didn't know she was **__**being**__** murdered at first. We all just thought she was sick, maybe the flu, but she kept getting weaker. "Just a bad case," she said, "and it's taking me longer to get over it." Somehow I knew there was more too it. She went to her doctor in town several times and he said he couldn't find anything wrong. He finally recommended a specialist at a nearby hospital, where they did a bunch of tests and finally came up with a diagnosis: anemia, cause unknown.**_

_**I had no idea what anemia was, and I was worried about Mom, so I went to the library as soon as we got home and looked it up: low red blood cell count, sometimes related to iron deficiency; possibly caused by disease, parasites, or extended blood loss. **_

_**Blood loss**__**. As soon as I read that, I knew: it was a vampire.**_

_**I tried to figure out how one could have gotten to my mother. I knew (which turned out to be wrong) that they couldn't enter the house uninvited. Something like that thing I had seen two years before couldn't go around unnoticed, especially in a place like Stillwater. Turns out I was wrong about that, too.**_

_**The doctors tried everything but every time they thought she was doing better her blood cell count would go down again. Finally I decided that I needed to watch her, to see for myself how this was happening. She had gotten too weak to go upstairs, so she slept in the guest room, and I spent several nights watching her sleep. Nothing. I was almost ready to think I was crazy, that the whole vampire idea was nonsense, until the night my Mom died.**_

_**I was lying on the sofa, pretending to sleep, when I heard a faint noise from my mother's room. I got there as quickly and quietly as I could, pulled out my knife, and when I opened the door, I froze.**_

_**A man was leaning over her and I could see the large syringe in his hand. It was full of something dark and right away I knew what it was. I took a step into the room and raised my knife, ready to stab the thing that was killing my mother. The floor creaked and it turned around, showing me a face I knew: Dr. Benton, my mother's doctor, a man my family had known for **__**years. **_

_**He just smiled at me and jumped out the window. I ran after him and after a few blocks he stopped and waited. I tried to stab him but he batted me away and laughed.**_

"_**Nice try, Leroy, but I'm afraid you're lacking quite a few things to get the job done."**_

_**I told him I would find a way to kill him. I would tell my father, the Sheriff, everyone, and they would hunt him down. That only made him laugh harder. Suddenly, his face shifted: his eyes turned black, his skin turned white, and he let his fangs down. I stared into the face of a monster, and I couldn't move. **_

"_**They won't believe you, you know. They never do. A poor, grief stricken **__**boy**__**, one who saw something tragic and couldn't deal with it, blaming something from his imagination. They'll send you to the insane asylum if you persist, and believe me, there are plenty of things I could do there to get you out of the picture. I **__**could**__** take care of you now, but really, it's time I moved on." He changed back into his normal form and grinned. "Now you better get home and comfort your grieving father." He turned and disappeared as I realized what he had said and ran home. **_

_**When I got there, I saw my father kneeling next to Mom's bed. He had called for an ambulance, but I think he already knew it was too late. My mother was gone. It was the first time I saw my Dad cry.**_

_**I didn't tell anyone what I had seen, because Benton was right. No one would have believed me. It was my secret, and I kept it to myself, but at the same time I made a promise: I would kill every single vampire on Earth, or die trying, but one in particular would be the first to go. Benton's days were numbered.**_

_**I read everything I could about vampires, but I had a new focus: how to kill them. It turns out there really aren't that many ways to do it. Fire works. So does the old horror movie stand-by, a wooden stake to the heart. Decapitation works, as well as major damage to the head or torso, but that's easier said than done. I decided that the stake would be the easiest, so I made some that I could conceal in my jacket or book bag. **_

_**I also read the newspapers to try and track down Benton. I looked for mysterious deaths or deaths that were due to anemia or blood loss. Finally, nearly three years after I had last seen Benton, I saw an article about an increase in the number of anemia cases in a town about 50 miles from Stillwater. The article blamed toxic discharge from a local mine, but I suspected otherwise. I scanned the papers, looking for a hint of Benton's presence, and I finally found him. He was using a new name, but the picture that accompanied the article left no doubt in my mind. Even though he had also changed his appearance some, I knew it was him. Now I had to figure out how to get to him, or to get him to come to me. I decided on the first option. I could take the bus to the town and wait until the right opportunity to put one of my stakes to use. Looking back, I was incredibly stupid, and very lucky.**_

_**I raised enough for bus fare by doing odd jobs around town. The problem was getting enough time away from my Dad to make the trip. I had only one friend, a guy named Matt Henderson, who lived outside of town but went to high school with me. Matt's family didn't have a phone, and I figured Dad wouldn't want to leave his store to check on me, so I told Dad I had been invited over for Memorial Day Weekend. It worked, and I headed out that Friday night in search of Benton.**_

_**I had a map of the town and found Benton's house with almost no trouble. I decided to wait until daylight, as I thought vampires would be a little easier to handle then. I knew at this point that they **__**could**__** walk around during the day, since I had seen Benton out in the daylight myself, but I also suspected they didn't like it much, since he had always worn dark glasses and stayed in the shade as much as possible.**_

_**Benton's door was unlocked (really, what would a vampire think he had to fear?) and I snuck inside just as the sun rose. I wore gloves so I wouldn't leave fingerprints. I had practiced moving without noise, and it paid off that morning. I found Benton in his study, dozing at his desk. He must have busy that night, because he was slow waking up, slow enough that I was right in front of him before he opened his eyes and I drove the stake into his heart before he could react. He stood and knocked me back before he tried to pull out the stake, but he couldn't. As I watched, blood started to pour out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth, and around the stake. He fell to the ground and crumbled before my eyes, until there was nothing left but a twisted, blackened corpse. I ran from the room, both horrified and relieved. I had finally got justice for Mom.**_

_**I checked to see if anyone was around before I left the house and started towards the next town. I'd buy a ticket back, and be home before the weekend was over. Everything had gone down according to plan. What I didn't know was that I **__**had**__** been noticed. I didn't find out until several months later.**_

_**I had just turned sixteen, and I was out on another hunt, when a vampire saved my life. **_

_**I had read in the paper about a bunch of disappearances two towns over: kids, some as young as four years old, had gone missing from their homes at night. The police suspected it was a kidnapping at first, but no ransom demand was ever received, and the bodies of the kids had not been found. It reminded me of Brian, how he had disappeared with almost no trace, and I suspected it was another vampire. I needed proof, though, so I went to the library and found a local map of the town. I looked up all the addresses and discovered that in the center of the circle that connected all of the addresses there was an abandoned farm, just like the old Parker place. I decided to go check it out.**_

_**I got there about an hour before dawn. The place was quiet, with no hint of anything alive, and I settled down to wait. The sun was almost up when I saw someone walking up the driveway towards the house. I realized it was a woman, and she was carrying something. I moved closer and saw that it was a little kid, probably about 3 years old. I hesitated. Big mistake. She looked up, saw me, and dropped the child as she shot towards me, faster than I would have believed possible. Before I could raise my stake, she knocked me to the ground and wrapped her hands, with claws extended, around my throat. I managed to fight her off, but she drew back and punched me in the chest. It felt like it had caved in and I couldn't breathe. I knew I was done, and my last thought as her claws wrapped around my throat again was that maybe I shouldn't have done this alone.**_

_**When I woke up, I was laying on a bed. The room was mostly dark, but I could see a man seated a few feet away, looking at me. The conversation that followed is one I'll never forget.**_

"_**Welcome back," he said. **_

"_**What happened?"**_

"_**You made the mistake of taking on a vampire single-handed. She didn't take kindly to it."**_

"_**Am I…?"**_

"_**You're alive. She's not. Good riddance."**_

"_**How did you-?"**_

"_**Lots of practice."**_

"_**You're a…vampire hunter?"**_

"_**Not exactly." He stood, walked to the bed, and looked down at me with those horrible black eyes. Suddenly, I knew why I was here: he wanted me for himself. I tried to get up but I was tied down, and my chest hurt so bad I couldn't move. I yelled and cussed, because I didn't want to die without a fight, but he just looked at me until I couldn't yell anymore. Then, he just smiled.**_

"_**Now that you've gotten that out of your system, we need to talk."**_

"_**Why didn't you kill me?"**_

"_**You're an unusual person, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Not many your age know about us, much less are willing to risk their own sad lives to hunt us. I'd like to know more about you."**_

"_**So, what, I'm too interesting to kill?"**_

_**He chuckled. "Good a reason as any."**_

"_**But what do you want with me?"**_

"_**Not so as what I want, but what **__**you**__** want, and what I can do for you."**_

"_**No. I don't want to be like you. Not **__**ever**__**."**_

"_**That wasn't what I was offering, kid. Tell me, was she the first vampire you've hunted?"**_

"_**No. I killed one a few months ago."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**He killed my Mom."**_

"_**Revenge. Good motivator. By why are you still hunting?"**_

"_**Because I want them all dead." I didn't care if he thought he was included. He was.**_

"_**We're not all alike, you know. Yes, we all have to kill to stay alive, but some of us are more selective. We kill the people who deserve it. But there are others of us, like the woman you were after, who don't care who they kill; women, children, the innocents, it doesn't matter to them. It's not right. You know it, and believe it or not, some of us do, too."**_

"_**So, what, you're going to kill them all for me?"**_

"_**No. A vampire that willingly kills his own kind too often gets noticed and becomes a target. As a human, you won't, mainly because they think **__**you**__** don't matter. To them, you're a temporary nuisance, which in reality makes you much more effective, especially if you have my help."**_

"_**You want me to be your assassin? Is that it? What makes you think I'd do it?"**_

"_**Because you want them gone as badly as I do, and I can give you something you don't have: knowledge."**_

"_**About what?"**_

"_**Where they are, how to better protect yourself, and more importantly, how to kill them."**_

"_**And what makes you think I won't kill you, too?"**_

"_**Because, Leroy, you are a man of honor. I can tell."**_

"_**Don't call me Leroy. It's Jethro."**_

"_**Fine, Jethro. Are you willing to work with me?"**_

_**I gave him my best glare, and he chuckled again. **_

"_**I expected that. I'll give you some time to think. You need to rest a bit, anyway. Those ribs must hurt like Hell."**_

_**I couldn't argue with that. He started to leave, but there was something I needed to know.**_

"_**What do I call you? Am I allowed to know your name?"**_

"_**You're allowed, kid. No reason why you wouldn't be."**_

"_**OK, so what is it?"**_

"_**You can call me Mike."**_

**XXX**

"Well, that's another question answered," muttered Tim. He had wondered how Gibbs had first met the vampire that had knocked his own world upside down.

He turned back to the book and continued to read. He learned about Gibbs' agreement to work with Mike and what it had entailed. Mike had explained the vampires' few weaknesses, the best time to catch them with their guard down, and the most efficient ways to kill them. In return, Gibbs had spent months in his father's old shed, working on better tools for the hunt. To hide what he was doing, Gibbs had obtained an old Dodge Charger, which was quite a junker, at least according to Gibbs' colorful descriptions. He pretended to work on it while developing new weapons, some of which amazed and horrified Tim as he read the descriptions of their effects. Gibbs had gone out a number of times after that disastrous second hunt, and by the time he was ready to graduate high school he had amassed quite a body count.

In between the lines, Tim had seen something else: loneliness. Gibbs made no other mentions of friends, but quite a few of enemies. The jocks obviously hated him because hid hadn't participated in sports. The blue-collar families didn't like him because he didn't work in the local mines. He didn't appear to fit in with the "nerds", although Tim was certain Gibbs was not lacking in the brains department: his innovations in weaponry and attention to detail laid that matter to rest (as well as his command of written language). He didn't even really write about girls, other than a few passing comments about a "pretty girl in the department store window".

When Tim reached the last page of the first book he saw a stark reminder that Gibbs himself knew what he was missing.

**XXX**

_**There's a race of men that don't fit in,  
A race that can't stay still;  
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,  
And they roam the world at will.  
They range the field and they rove the flood,  
And they climb the mountain's crest;  
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,  
And they don't know how to rest.**_

_**Not something I would usually put in here, I know. The only reason I even know it is because of Mom. She loved poetry. She used to read it to me, and to be honest I never thought much about it, but these few lines I've included here speak the truth: I'm one of the 'men who don't fit in', in more ways than one, and I guess I need to face that. Mike says I need to get out of this town, that it's killing me just as sure as any vampire would, and I guess he's right. I don't have any money for college, and I don't have many job skills (other than vampire hunting, but the pay is lousy). My Dad was in the Navy and I thought about joining up, but I don't think I'd have many chances to hunt on a ship. I want to learn to shoot. I want to learn to fight better. I want to be trained by the toughest, and everything I've read says there's one place for that. I'm going to join the Marines.**_

_**Graduation is tomorrow, and by the next morning I'll be on my way to boot camp. Dad doesn't know yet, and I don't think he'll be too happy, but it's something I need to do.**_

_**I wrote this journal so, if anything happens to me and I never make it home, my Dad will know the truth. I hope he doesn't think I'm crazy, because I'm not. Vampires exist and I've been hunting them since I was twelve years old, starting with the one who murdered Mom.**_

_**I'm still planning to hunt, and I'm still going to write about it, but I'm at the end of this notebook. I'll buy another on my way to Paris Island and start the next book as I start the next stage of my life.**_

_**As they say in the Marines, Semper Fi.**_

**XXX**

Tim closed the book and silently placed it on the desk next to the others. He had learned quite a bit, but there was still something missing. He doubted that Gibbs expected him to become a hunter, so what information did these books contain that he needed to 'use wisely'?

He looked at his watch and sighed. It was well after midnight, but he still had two more to finish.

_Better get back to it._

He picked up the next volume, opened it, and started to read.

**

* * *

**

A/N: The poem quoted in Gibbs' journal is "The Men Who Don't Fit In" (first stanza), by Robert Service.

There will be two more "journal" chapters, an additional chapter, and an epilogue.

We all hear about Gibbs' "rules", but not too much on how he came up with them. I've included possible reasons for them within the context of this story. Can you spot them? ;)

Signed reviews/constructive criticisms are always appreciated.


	3. Part 2 Marine

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_, _Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge_

Chapter 3 of 6

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

_**Part II - Marine**_

_**Well, I survived Boot Camp. Yep, surprised the hell out of me, too. It was worth it though, and much more than I expected when I got to "Paradise Island" as they call it. Who knew these people had a sense of humor?**_

_**Thirteen weeks of hell. That's what I thought it would be after the first two weeks. No one seemed to know how to talk in a normal voice. The DIs yell, the recruits yell back. Yes, Sir. No Sir. This recruit thought he would lose his voice. That's another thing. There's no "I" or "we" during training. Recruits, not individuals. Almost felt like brainwashing, but I guess in a way it was. This recruit was part of a group, a unit, a force against the enemies. That's what was taught. It's what makes the recruits what we are. Marines. **_

_**It was weird at first. I was so used to being alone and suddenly I was stuck with a group of guys who did everything together. Every guy in the platoon had one goal: to make it through. A couple didn't. They couldn't pass the physical fitness tests and got sent back for fitness training. I was damn glad I wasn't one of them. Crunches, pull-ups, 3 mile runs, marches; seems like we were always on the move. Good thing my "hobby" (as Mike calls it) kept me in pretty good shape, a fact I never shared with my platoon. I didn't have much chance to even think about hunting anyway: too much to learn, too much to do, and too busy keeping my instructors from kicking my ass on a regular basis.**_

_**I valued what I learned, though. Not just because it would help with the hunt, but because I found out I was good at something else. I can shoot. My range instructor said I'm a natural, something he rarely sees, he said. I'm not sure how I'd feel if I had to kill a human up close, like I do those black-eyed bastards that I usually hunt, but the rifle makes it less personal. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, or if I really have what it takes to become a sniper. I guess I'll find out when I go to Advanced Training tomorrow.**_

_**This is my last day of leave after boot camp. Most people take the time to make the trip back home. I didn't. Nothing for me there, really. I suppose I'll go back some time. See how the old hometown celebrates the Bicentennial. But that's not important right now. A lot can happen between now and then. **_

_**I spent my leave time hunting, testing out what I'd learned. I was almost happy then, for the first time in years. I'd earned my Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. I was a real Marine.**_

_**Mike wasn't that impressed, which he was quick to tell me. **_

"_**That little emblem don't mean nothing to a vamp, kid." **_

_**Yeah, bite me, Mike. Of course, I wasn't dumb enough to tell him that. He might have obliged, being in the mood he was in when he showed up the night after the ceremony with a hunt planned.**_

_**We worked together and took out a small nest of vamps that was holed up in an old plantation house about 30 miles inland. There were four of them in that house. It was the first time I'd seen more than two living together. Vampires, at least in my experience, aren't social creatures. More than two in an area tends to raise suspicions, and while the older ones don't really fear humans, this group was young and apparently decided there was safety in numbers.**_

_**We hit the house just before dark, and I took out the first one before he could raise the alarm. Mike didn't say much after that and we quickly cleared out the rest. As we were getting rid of the corpses, he turned to me and said, "Good work, kid. Looks like you learned something useful after all. It almost makes that haircut you have worth it."**_

_**I couldn't help it. I started to laugh, something I hadn't done much in the last few years. When I looked back at him, though, I stopped. Something was definitely wrong.**_

"_**What is it, Mike?"**_

"_**I'm heading to the West Coast, Jethro. I won't be around to help, but it looks like you're gonna do fine on your own."**_

"_**I might wind up out there at some point."**_

"_**I know, but I'm not going to be in a position to work with you. I'm going under cover, you might say."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**There's a bigger problem out there than just vampires, kid. They're up to something besides just getting a meal. They have been for awhile, now, but it's getting worse."**_

"_**What are they up to?"**_

"_**Securing their future."**_

"_**How?"**_

"_**I'll tell you more when I can. Now let's get out of here before someone gets nosy."**_

_**I wanted to ask more, but one thing I knew was that Mike wouldn't tell me anything unless he was damn good and ready.**_

XXX

Tim read into the wee hours of the night. This journal was giving him a glimpse of how Gibbs had grown from a raw recruit into an experienced sniper. He read about Gibbs' first meeting with Shannon and had to smile at the mention of her 'rules'. It was weird to see Gibbs' thoughts on her, sounding like a lovestruck teenager at first and eventually maturing into something much deeper. Tim felt like an intruder at times as he learned things he knew Gibbs would never have mentioned during his life, but he also gained a greater understanding of what Gibbs' wife, and eventually his daughter, had meant to him.

XXX

_**Every time I go out on a hunt I think of Kelly, and what it would be like for her if I never came back. I think it keeps me sharp, most of the time, but sometimes I think it might be better if I didn't risk it. She needs her father. Maybe I should find a new "hobby". Unfortunately Mike doesn't seem to agree. Even though he's "undercover", I still hear from him. Just a short note, no return address, with an address listed. When I get the chance, if I'm in the area with a detachment, I check it out. Sometimes I find out the vamps have moved on. Sometimes not.**_

XXX

Tim absorbed the details of the hunts as Gibbs described them, anxious to find something that would help him understand what Gibbs expected him to do, but eventually something started to bother him. Gibbs never mentioned the mission that kept Mike out of sight, and Tim wondered why Gibbs hadn't pushed.

"Guess he really was different back then," mused Tim as he tried to read faster.

He sped through the entries on sniper training, Gibbs' missions overseas, and the various "detachments" that kept Gibbs occupied as he moved up the ranks towards his final title of Gunnery Sergeant. Suddenly, one sentence caught his attention and caused him to slow his pace.

XXX

_**Last night was the first time I had to reveal myself to a survivor of a vampire attack, and in the process I gained a friend. I was with a detachment at the Alameda Naval Air Station, doing advanced rifle training for some of the squids. I had gotten a note from Mike that something was up in the area, so I decided to check it out. **_

_**I was near one of the docks, next to one of the big cruisers that had been moored there for repairs, when I caught sight of my target. Vamps are pretty distinctive in the way they move, so it was easy to tell what it was. Unfortunately, it was also hunting. Some dumb squid was apparently out for a walk and didn't realize he was being shadowed. He was lucky that night, though, because just as the vamp closed in, I was ready for it. It knocked the guy to the ground and was about to rip his throat out when I got behind it and staked the bastard. I kicked the corpse into the harbor and tried to get out of there as quick as I could, but the guy I had just saved tried to block my path. I stopped and glared at him, but he wasn't about to be intimidated.**_

"_**What the hell was that?"**_

"_**What did it look like?"**_

"_**It looks like I'm losing my mind, to be honest, but was that…no, it couldn't be…"**_

"_**A vampire."**_

_**He laughed in obvious disbelief. "You…you're kidding, right?"**_

"_**Nope." He stared at me, trying to decide which of us was crazier, I guess. Finally he asked, "How did you know…?"**_

"_**How to kill it? Been doing it a while."**_

"_**How long?"**_

"_**Since I was a kid."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**Why not?"**_

_**He just stared at me and I started to walk away. **_

"_**Wait. Will you tell me?"**_

"_**Tell you what?"**_

"_**How to kill them?"**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**Why not?"**_

_**This time I had to laugh. This guy had no clue.**_

"_**You want to be a vampire hunter?"**_

"_**No…maybe. I want to know. Just in case."**_

"_**In case what?"**_

"_**There are more out there. I want to know how to protect my family."**_

_**I could see he wasn't going to back down. **_

"_**Know some place where we can talk?"**_

"_**Yeah, there's a place just off base. Nobody will bother us."**_

"_**Fine. Lead the way."**_

"_**By the way, what's your name? I kind of want to know to whom I owe my life."**_

"_**Jethro Gibbs." **_

_**He offered his hand and I shook it. "Mark McGee."**_

XXX

"No way. No way in hell," breathed Tim as he read the rest of the conversation. "My _father? _He…he knew…he knew Gibbs? He knew about _vampires?_"

"'Fraid so, kid."

Tim spun around to see Mike standing in the doorway. He caught his breath and groaned.

"Please don't do that again."

"Sorry, habit. But to answer your next question, he never told you because: one, you wouldn't have believed him, and two, he really didn't want you to know how close you came to losing him, quite a few times. Not Gibbs' fault for that last part, by the way. He tried to keep your dad out of the hunt, but Mark was stubborn. I understand that runs in the family."

Tim glared at Mike and he chuckled. "Mark used to give me that same look when I told him he shouldn't be hunting. He had a family and he didn't have the experience like Jethro did. He proved me wrong, though. He was a pretty good hunter."

"So _did_ Gibbs expect me to follow in my father's footsteps? Is that why he gave these books to me?"

"Not exactly. Keep reading. Now I just stopped in to check on you, but I have a few more errands to run. I'll be back before sun-up."

"Wait. What made you go undercover?"

Mike turned and gave McGee an appraising look. "You're asking the question Jethro should have asked earlier than he did. Just keep reading, you'll find out."

Tim looked at the clock. "I…I can't. I have to go to work in a few hours and-."

"Check your email. You've been given another day off. Vance decided to turn the case over to another team."

"_What?_ Why?"

"I think you know why. You and the rest of Gibbs' team can't be objective, or at least that's what the Big Boss will say."

"_Damn it._ But how-?"

"Working on that one. You just get back to those books."

"Right." Tim looked down at the open journal for a moment and when he looked up to ask Mike another question, he was gone.

"Great…"

Tim checked his email to confirm that he did indeed have a day off and started to read again. He didn't learn much from the next dozen pages. It was mostly more of the same, but he did get some more insight on what it was like for Gibbs as he tried to balance his life between his job, his family, and the hunt. The love he had for his family and how much it hurt to leave them was so obvious that it made Tim's heart sink in his chest when he reached the part he had known would be there: the loss of Gibbs' family.

XXX

_**I still can't believe they're gone. **_

_**The past few weeks have been a blur (and not just because I spent nineteen of those days in a coma, so I'm told). Nothing feels real, not even after I went to the cemetery where they are buried. I couldn't stay at the house in DC any longer. It's too empty, and it doesn't really feel like mine now.**_

_**When I got back from overseas, I**_ _**stayed in DC until I was cleared at Bethesda, and then I went out to the coast, to Camp Pendleton. They had come out there to wait for my return and to stay with some friends, and that's when Shannon saw something she shouldn't have. She tried to do the right thing and she wound up dead. I had almost started to think there was justice in this world, but I've been proven wrong. **_

_**I hit rock bottom, I admit it. I went out to the beach where we all used to go, and I could almost hear Shannon's voice and Kelly's laughter. I brought my handgun with me, and I sat on a piece of driftwood, staring down the barrel of it, wondering if I would have the guts to pull the trigger and end it all. I never got the chance to find out.**_

"_**You don't want to be doing that, kid. Suicides go straight to Hell, or at least I've been told."**_

_**I looked up and saw Mike standing there.**_

"_**Fine." I handed him the gun. "Do it for me. No skin off your back."**_

_**Mike just stared at me for a few moments before he replied. "No, sorry, you're still too interesting to kill. However, if it is **__**revenge**__** you want, and I'm pretty sure you do, I can make it easier for you to carry it out."**_

"_**What do you mean?"**_

"_**I could make you one of us. You'd stand a better chance."**_

_**I was shocked. "I told you never to offer that to me again."**_

"_**Yep, you did. Now that I have your attention, maybe you'll listen to reason. Go to the NIS office tomorrow and I'll promise you'll get all the 'facts'."**_

"_**Why can't you just tell me now?"**_

"_**You'll see."**_

_**I went the next morning and got the shock of my life. When I asked to see the lead agent, they directed me to his office and there was Mike the vampire.**_

"_**What the hell are you doing here?"**_

"_**Special Agent Mike Franks, at your service."**_

"_**This**__** is your undercover job? And why the hell couldn't you tell me this yesterday?"**_

"_**Because you had to see for yourself."**_

_**He then told me why he was working for NIS. Law enforcement, especially federal law enforcement, had access to resources we didn't. NIS was mostly under the radar, so the vamps didn't pay too much attention to the work they could do. Mike could keep better track of their activities which the vamps are getting better at hiding their behind criminal enterprises, and one in particular.**_

"_**Drugs? Why would they care about that?" I asked Mike.**_

"_**Lots of money to be made, and with money there's power. They want to take over, you know, and they can't do that with the limited numbers we've always maintained. Besides, think of what happens with people associated with the trade: violent deaths, disappearances, all good ways to cover up when they take victims. A bunch of humans working towards their own demise and they don't even know it. I've helped take down the human factor through this job, and used it to find groups of vamps that I take care of on my own time. Or yours, as the case may be. I've also gotten hints of some bigger things in the works."**_

"_**What does this have to do with Shannon and Kelly?"**_

_**Mike sighed and I could tell he didn't want to admit what happened, but I pushed him.**_

"_**Wrong place, wrong time. They witnessed one of the humans involved in the trade making a deal. Shannon went to the local cops and they contacted us. She agreed to testify and we promised to keep them safe. One of our people was transporting them to a safe house when a sniper took him out and their vehicle crashed. We had no idea how they even knew about her."**_

_**I was furious. "After all I've done, working for you, and you couldn't even protect my family? Where is the bastard that caused the crash? I'll kill him with my bare hands."**_

"_**You can't do that, Jethro."**_

"_**Why not?"**_

"_**He's human."**_

"_**So? He killed my family, he's fair game."**_

"_**No. He's not the one you want. You want his boss. A vampire named Vasquez. He hired the guy, Pedro Hernandez, to kill your family. The police know about Hernandez and that he fled to Mexico, but they can't bring him back."**_

"_**Then I'll go get him."**_

"_**No, let us take care of him. You take care of Vasquez. He's one of those that doesn't see humans as a threat and he'll never see you coming."**_

_**So I went to Mexico. I tracked down Vasquez, who had his own little cartel in place, run by humans who had no idea what they were working for. I figured they deserved whatever they got.**_

_**I took out Vasquez, and then I went after his human lackey. I had him in my sights. I couldn't do it. I just hoped that Mike would make good on his promise.**_

_**After I got back, the MPs paid me a visit, wanting to know what I knew about the shooting of Pedro Hernandez. Someone took him out as he was driving home from the cantina. I guess Mike's friends took care of it after all.**_

_**The MP in charge of the case wanted to prove herself, I think. She knew I had motive, means, and opportunity. Eventually she backed down, though. I still wonder why.**_

_**After that the Corps and I parted company. I needed a civilian job, and Mike saved my ass once again. He got me into FLETC with the goal of eventually getting me into NIS. He said someone who knew the truth would have to take over when it was his time to move on. In the meantime, I have a lot to learn.**_

XXX

Tim closed the book and set it on his desk before picking up the last volume. He still had questions that needed to be answered. Hopefully the final book would provide them.

XXX

A/N: While it may seem that Gibbs is getting a free pass with the Hernandez issue, he's not, and it will come into play in the next chapter.


	4. Part 3 Agent

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_, _Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge_

Chapter 4 of 6

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

* * *

_**Part III - Agent**_

_**I've been an agent for six months, now. Working with Mike as my official boss has been interesting, to say the least. He has rules he expects me to learn (and I've added a few of my own), and when I screw up I get a whack on the back of the head. I finally got the nerve to ask him why, and he said "it's a wake-up call". I think it's a reminder of what he could do to me, or what another of his kind could do if they catch on to what we've been doing. Those slaps are nothing compared to what he could do during a fight. One blow from him in full vamp mode can take another vamp's head off, and I've seen him do it. The smacks I get serve another purpose: a gentle reminder of who is the boss, and who is the "Probie".**_

_**I almost forget what he is sometimes because he has taken this "undercover" assignment seriously and no one even suspects that he isn't human. He has taught me a lot, although I really wish I could do more than just "schlep" equipment. I observe as I work, and I see how an investigation should be run. I'm also learning a lot more about our common enemy. **_

_**The drug cartels are just some of the groups being manipulated by vampires. Other areas of organized crime, from the mob to the gangs receive support and funding, although at first I couldn't understand why.**_

"_**This doesn't make sense, Mike. Why would vamps be helping criminals who aren't directly helping their cash flow?"**_

"_**Fear, Probie. People who are afraid are easier to manipulate. They make bad decisions and that sends them down the path to exploitation. Vice means more crime, more dead bodies, more people who won't be missed. It's a vicious cycle and vamps thrive on it."**_

_**We're only a small part of the force working to stop that cycle, even though most don't realize who, or what, they're really fighting. It's frustrating, but we keep at it, one crime at a time. In addition to the investigation, sometimes the crimes lead to clues about who is involved, and helps us track the major players and their sources of income. Maybe one day we'll connect all the dots and take down the whole network. Someday.**_

_**After hours, there's the hunt. I understand that killing the vamps that are making the mistake of letting themselves be known only takes care of part of the problem, but it's better than nothing.**_

_**Sometimes Mark joins us, even though I think it's a bad idea. He has two kids and I worry about them. I know what it's like to lose a parent to these bastards, but I haven't been able to get him to quit. **_

"_**What's the point of staying out of the hunt if it increases the chance of my kids falling prey to one I didn't kill?", he said, the last time I tried to get him to stay home. He's stubborn, but he has a point. Those of us who know the danger **__**do**__** need to protect the innocents. And I admit, it's nice to know a **__**human**__** has my back on these hunts sometimes.**_

XXX

Tim rubbed a weary hand over his eyes as he felt an old yet familiar twist of anger in his gut. He has always wished, growing up, that his father could be home more often, and a small part of him had hated his Dad's job for keeping the man from his family. Now he was learning there was something else that had kept Mark McGee away, and he wasn't certain how he felt about that.

His father had been dedicated and stubborn, it was true, and Tim had always attributed it partially to his father's military training. He also knew that his father believed that he was truly protecting his family and his country through his work in the Navy. It was still strange to think he had been protecting them in other ways as well. Tim almost wished that he could have hated Gibbs for bringing his father into the hunt, but he couldn't. Gibbs hadn't meant for it to happen, and had tried to discourage it, that much was obvious. The real reason why Tim couldn't be angry was because he now understood, more than he had ever suspected he could, what motivated the man. And last but not least, he realized that Gibbs had been looking out for one of his team for a very long time.

Tim opened the journal again and continued to read, occasionally smiling at the commentary which sounded so different yet so similar to the man he had known. He could see the change in the man over time, from the bitter former Marine to unsure civilian to seasoned investigator. He also noticed that there were more entries dealing with information on victims of the vampires and their families, as if he hoped by recording their names, they wouldn't be forgotten. There was information on the criminal network as well, connections that would have taken years to track down were now recorded in one place. Tim wondered if _this_ was what Gibbs wanted him to use wisely.

He went to his computer and started to record the information, to put it in a form he understood. He just hoped for a final clue of what to do with it. After he had finished the first section, he resumed his reading, and encountered the answer to another question.

XXX

_**Khobar Towers. I doubt many people will remember it, since it didn't happen on American soil, but it was an important event at least for Mike, and by extension, for me. **_

_**In addition to our criminal investigations, Mike and I had become part of a system that was adept at collecting intelligence information regarding terrorist activity. Me, through military connections, and Mike through his "old friends" who kept an eye on the activities of those we hunted, were able to provide assistance, although we kept a lid on some of the more unconventional motives. Unfortunately, sometimes the Brass didn't want to listen, especially when it doesn't fit the political climate of the day.**_

_**We had fair warning of the attack, over six months prior, but somewhere the wires got crossed. After we heard the news, Mike went ballistic. I had never seen him like that, and for the first time since we had met, I was afraid of him.**_

"_**What the hell is the point of risking my neck and trying to help when those idiots in charge don't want to believe something that is obvious? How would we ever make them believe the threat we've been dealing with? I can't help those who willing walk into the slaughterhouse!"**_

_**He never looked less human and I was glad we were alone. I knew he wouldn't attack me, but someone else might not have been so lucky. The worst part was that I understood his point, but I still thought what we were doing was worth while. I told him we still had a chance to help and he brushed me off.**_

"_**I quit. I'll go back to doing things my way. I'll save the ones who deserve it."**_

"_**You're a judge of that now, are you?" I asked, and for a minute I was worried I had gone too far. He just stared at me for what seemed like eternity before he just turned away from me and started to clear out his office.**_

"_**Mike, I…"**_

"_**Never apologize, Probie. It's a sign of weakness." He turned back to me. "Maybe one day you'll understand. Until then, try to do what you know is right. Hopefully someone will catch on. I doubt it, though." He handed me his gun and badge, picked up his box of belongings, and started to walk out the door.**_

"_**Wait. I might need to contact you. How-?"**_

"_**Check with personnel. I'll leave an address. They'll need somewhere to send my pension checks, right?" He grinned, but there was no humor in it.**_

"_**Right. And uh, Mike? Thanks for…you know."**_

"_**See ya around, Probie." **_

_**He left, and I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.**_

_**The next day I got the paperwork for a transfer to the DC office, at the Navy Yard. I had been there before, as a TAD, on a case involving a serial killer named Kyle Boone. He was my first real exposure to a **__**human**__** monster. That case cost me more than I had expected, but during my time at DC I gained a friend, although I didn't expect him to be one at first.**_

_**Donald Mallard, "Ducky" to his friends, is unlike anyone I have met before. He has a story for everything, and the ability to relate even the most gruesome cases to something lighthearted. I have to admit, I envy it. I have a few tales of my own, but I can never really share them with anyone, especially not with a very eccentric medical examiner. I just listen, and he seems to appreciate that, but I have another motive: I am wondering if he knows about vampires. I am not looking for a hunting partner (although I think Mark would be willing to help if he was ever in the area), but I would like someone to bounce ideas off of. If he does know, he isn't forthcoming, and I'm not about to ask outright. In the mean time, I've decided he would be a friend worth having. If nothing else, he can keep my mind off of the stuff I didn't really need to think about. Maybe one day I'll tell him about it.**_

XXX

Tim couldn't help but smile at the image of those conversations. He had often wondered how the two had met and become friends. He sobered quickly, however, when he remembered what Ducky would no doubt have to do in the near future. He wouldn't have wished that task on anyone.

Tim turned his attention back to the journal and was surprised to find a gap in the information. Gibbs hadn't kept the journal up to date for a couple of years, and the regularity of entries decreased, except for the lists: those remained, and Tim copied the information as he continued to read.

XXX

_**I haven't written in this book in a while, but the job has kept me busier than I expected. DC is very different than Camp Pendleton. We're closer to the politicians here, and there are more chances for undercover and "special assignments". I've avoided those so far, other than a short stint as Agent Afloat, something I hope to avoid in the future. I'm still tracking and hunting, but it's harder now. I'm getting older, and I don't have the talent or patience to deal with the new technology. I guess one day soon I'm going to have to learn. Maybe I can get the new forensic scientist to help, she seems to be pretty good with that stuff. She's on the strange side, though. I'm not sure how a "Goth" and an old Marine will get along.**_

_**I'm also busy with my own team, now. I'm not used to being the boss, so that has taken some getting used to. My "senior" field agent is good but he still needs some work. We're a two-man operation, except when there's a body and Ducky joins us. Sometimes I wish it was just me and Mike again. It's been years, but old habits die hard.**_

_** xxx**_

_**I've been assigned to the office in Paris and assigned a new partner: Jenny Shepard. Some, kid, not long out of college, ambitious as hell but occasionally lacking sense. She's a quick study, but I get the feeling she's hiding something. She's pretty aggressive, too. I think I may have to watch my step with her. I already have two ex-wives. I don't need a third. **_

_**I actually heard from Mike, first time in years. He sent me a post card saying he'd warn the "Old Guard" that I'd be there and might need some help. I'm almost afraid to ask what that means. It looks like I'm going to have to adapt to hunting in a new environment. **_

_**xxx**_

_**I'm finally back in the States, hopefully for good. Paris, Serbia, and then Moscow: I fell for someone I shouldn't, got shot, got arrested, got backstabbed by my "partner", barely made it out of an op alive, got sent to a new office, got married again, and divorced again. Sometimes I think vamps are the least of my worries.**_

_**I've been given the MCRT team, with new agents, but Ducky and Abby are still around. It's nice to see something constant for a change. I'm back to hunting and tracking again, too. Things are getting worse in that area: more crime, more violence, and the number of missing people continues to climb. Sometimes I think it's a lost cause, but then I remember there are people, innocents, that need protecting, and still I keep on hunting. I still hear from Mark but he talks more about his kids now than the vamps. I'm glad to see he's learned to appreciate what he has, but at the same time I hate hearing about it, and then I hate myself. He's lucky, I'm not. Guess I should face that and move on.**_

_**xxx**_

_**I'm getting a new team member. Stan is being reassigned as an Agent Afloat and the Director told me to find a replacement. The only one that even comes close to being worth the effort of training a new guy is some smart-ass Baltimore detective. I met him before, when we had a case overlap, and I could deal with him then. **__**Most**__** of the time he knew when to listen, and he was useful when we made the final bust. He's got good instincts but he's cocky, and needs to be taken down a peg. I think I could make a decent investigator out of him if a take a few pages out of the boot camp training book and add a few of Mike's "wake up calls". We'll see.**_

_**xxx**_

_**Our case load is increasing, and that means a new agent position has been added to the team. I was dreading the process, but it looks like luck turned my way for once. The Secret Service's loss is our gain. Special Agent Caitlin Todd: she's smart, capable, and is almost the polar opposite of DiNozzo, all points in her favor. She's tough enough to stand up to me, but she's been able to keep a hold of some of her humanity, a rare quality in this job. I can work with her, I just hope she can work with us.**_

XXX

Tim paused to close his eyes against the sudden stinging he felt. Even after these years, it still hurt to think of Kate. He remembered how she had often acted as a buffer for him against Gibbs and DiNozzo (although she wasn't above a little hazing) and how she had tried to help him become a better agent. Her death had been the first major shock to him after he joined the agency, and he remembered how bad it had been for all of them during the aftermath.

He was sure there would be more about her in the journal and he tried to prepare himself for it. The next entry, however, pushed the thought (at least temporarily) from his mind.

XXX

_**I finally met Mark's son, in the place I least expected. We were investigating a case at Norfolk, and the name of the case agent who contacted us barely made a blip on my radar. I thought he looked a bit familiar (or from what I could see behind the mask he wore at the scene) but it still didn't register until he stood up to me when I asked if he thought I could be difficult, and that's when it hit me. He looked **__**exactly**__** like Mark had all those years ago after I saved him from that vamp.**_

_**I still couldn't believe that a kid with the education he had would be in a job like this. I checked into it, and sure enough he was who I thought he was. I had to call Mark to ask him why his son had joined NCIS instead of taking some cushy and safe job like his father had wanted him to do. **_

"_**I couldn't stop him, Jethro. He got it into his head that he wanted to be a Navy cop. Before we even knew that he had applied he was off to FLETC, and said it was something he had to do. He thought his background would help. Hell, everything is 'computer this' and 'computer that' these days, maybe he can." I heard him sigh and I could almost picture the look on his face. "I just hope he can stay out of trouble."**_

"_**I want him on my team," I said, surprising myself.**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**Because he's got guts. Just like his old man."**_

"_**No, Gibbs, damn it! Trouble follows you and he doesn't need that. I don't want him to do what I…what **__**we**__** did for so many years."**_

"_**I wasn't planning on asking him to join the hunt, Mark. I figured I could keep an eye on him for you."**_

_**He sighed again and then swore.**_

"_**Or I can leave him down at Norfolk and he can waste those talents that you've been telling me about for years."**_

"_**If he was someone else's son, what would you do?"**_

"_**Same thing I'm doing now."**_

"_**Why don't I believe that?"**_

"_**Since when did you become such a cynic, Mark?"**_

"_**Spent too much time around you, Jethro."**_

"_**Probably." I heard him let out a bark of laughter and when he spoke again he sounded a little more relaxed.**_

"_**Alright. You do what you think you should. You would anyway. Just…don't let him do anything crazy, OK?"**_

"_**If he's anything like his father, I don't think I could stop him."**_

"_**Yeah, you're probably right. **_

_**I went to the director the next day and set things in motion. I just hope I can do right by both father and son.**_

XXX

"What changed?" asked Tim aloud. "What made Gibbs want me to be part of all this?"

He knew he couldn't ask his own father: Mark McGee had died two years ago. The only way he would find out was from Gibbs' writings. He started to read faster, skimming through Gibbs' descriptions of various cases, some of which Tim remembered during his time as a TAD with Gibbs' team. Then, the case that had landed him on Gibbs' term permanently, and he was surprised to see Gibbs' mention how proud he had been. He continued to read, up to the part he had recently been dreading, and paused to brace himself to relieve those memories. Gibbs' anger came through in his written words just as it had in person. Tim was startled to see that Gibbs' initially believed that Ari Haswari had been working for a very different sort of threat, and in that he understood a little more of how Gibbs had acted back then.

More pages, more cases described, and more details on the work he had been doing to track threats, from both humans and vampires. Tim continued to enter the information, wondering if all of his efforts would just be a useless exercise. Reading Gibbs own frustrations didn't help.

XXX.

_**I finally understand why Mike left. Why are we trying to save people who are so willing to sacrifice others just to save face? I quit NCIS, tracked down Mike, and went back to hunting on my own terms. I wasn't ever going to go back. Even when Ziva called, and I had to help, I hadn't planned to stay. Then Fornell asked for my help, and I realized I couldn't stay away. The people I knew needed me. It was still my job.**_

XXX

"Really glad you came back, Boss," said Tim as he continued to read. He wasn't sure how some of things that happened after Gibbs came back would have played out without him there to put out the fires. Tim had to chuckle a couple of times during the narrative as he remembered how happy they had all been, even though one of the team was keeping secrets from the rest. He sobered when he remembered some of the more dangerous moments, one in particular that could have gone very badly for Ducky, and when he reached that part in the memoir he paused. Just when he thought nothing else could surprise him…

XXX

_**There's a vampire working for the CIA. Somehow I'm not surprised. **_

_**I found this out when we were chasing La Grenouille, arms dealer. Apparently he was being handled by the CIA to help them keep track of other arms dealers. This should not have come to much of a surprise to anyone except Jenny. She was obsessed with catching "The Frog" and I could tell it was personal. I know that look, I've worn it myself. She's not letting on what it's about, but I can guess. Scuttlebutt said that her father, Jasper Sheppard, committed suicide while he was being investigated for his part in some missing shipments of firearms. She doesn't believe it was a suicide and was looking for answers which caused her to lose sight of the big picture, mainly the safety of her agents.**_

_**We went all the way to Canada to find this guy, and almost had him when she was called off by the CIA. The handler, Trent Kort, was posing as La Grenouille's right hand man. I was the only one who noticed that he wasn't human.**_

_**I tried to discourage her from any more attempts, but I didn't realize just how deep her obsession went. In the meantime, I managed to track Kort down and follow him, hoping to get some answers, mainly why she had put the agency at such a risk. It didn't quite go like I expected. When I caught up to him, instead of attacking he just smirked.**_

"_**I see that Mike has taught you well, but I think you're getting a little old for the hunt, Jethro. If I had wanted to kill you, you would have been dead by now."**_

"_**You know Mike?"**_

"_**Yes, we are both part of the same…select little group, trying to keep the more conservative of our brethren from enslaving you humans as they wish to. They're expanding their reach to include all sorts of new opportunities for mayhem. I'm helping to control it a bit, under the auspices of the CIA."**_

"_**How much do they know?"**_

"_**About us? Nothing, and personally I'd prefer to keep it that way. I rather like this job. It has perks."**_

"_**I'll bet."**_

"_**Enough small talk. You have questions?"**_

"_**Yeah. Who killed Jasper Shepard?"**_

"_**Jasper Shepard. Unfortunate, I assure you."**_

"_**You're telling me it was really a suicide? That Jenny did all of this for nothing?"**_

"_**Afraid so."**_

"_**So what's your **__**real**__** part in all of this?"**_

"_**Just trying to keep those who should be in the dark, in the dark."**_

"_**And that includes Jenny."**_

"_**And others. Better than the truth, trust me."**_

_**I couldn't argue. Finally he let me go, with a warning to steer clear of The Frog.**_

_**I tried to convince Jenny to drop her vendetta against the arms dealer. I hadn't realized just how deep her obsession went, or what she had already done. I found out when she almost got my agent killed. **_

_**It looked like the issue was finally settled when Rene Benoit disappeared from the radar, but no such luck. Turns out he had been murdered. The FBI put us under investigation, and Kort had to show up to give a cover story. As he was leaving, I asked him again who had killed Jenny's father.**_

"_**Same answer I gave you last time."**_

"_**Now why don't I believe you? His fingerprints were on that glass, Abby said they were recent. You want to tell me how that's possible if he's dead?"**_

_**He smirked. "The same way it's possible for me to leave fingerprints."**_

"_**What?"**_

"_**Yes, Shepard shot himself. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't immediately fatal, and some of my friends can be very persuasive, even enough to convince the Army M.E. to fake an autopsy report."**_

"_**So they-?"**_

"_**They turned him, yes. He was spending his time helping our group. Regrettably those on the other side decided to use him against your Director. They captured him and planted his prints in order to leave them in Jenny's study. We managed to get him back, but the damage was done. They wanted to destabilize her and the agency. It almost worked."**_

"_**Why go after NCIS?"**_

"_**Simple. One less threat. Time will tell if it eventually pays off."**_

"_**Damn it."**_

"_**I agree. I don't envy the hand you will be dealt in the next few months. It might be time to consider retirement again." **_

_**I let him go and went back to try and talk some sense into Jenny. It didn't work. She couldn't see what damage had been done. To be honest, I didn't see the full extent, either.**_

_**xxx**_

_**I lost a friend this week, and I can't even mention it. I can't even tell his son how much I am sorry for **__**his**__** loss. Mark McGee was a good man. I never expected to lose him to something so simple as a car accident. Hit and run, probably drunk, or at least that's what the report says. Tim tried to be stoic when he requested the time off, and I didn't push him. I even tried to keep DiNozzo at bay. It was the least I could do.**_

_**Rest in peace, Mark. I'll miss you.**_

_**xxx**_

_**I'm tired of losing people. **_

_**Jenny's gone, gunned down in a crappy diner out in the California desert. She left her protection detail behind and decided to handle it herself to protect me. I just wish she had told me, I could have helped. The target she was supposed to take out all those years ago and didn't, one of three targets we were after as part of an op. Maybe Mike was right, I shouldn't have trusted her to take care of her target, but she never gave me any doubts back then. I should have checked.**_

_**Tony and Ziva are tearing themselves up over it, but it's not their fault. I wish there was some way to tell them that. I have told them, but they won't believe it. The whole thing was a set-up. They took her out to get to me. **_

_**Now my team, the only real family I have, had been scattered. I guess I should count myself lucky I still have a job. **_

_**I will get them all back. To hell with Vance and his punishment. It may take time, but I will get them all back together, and not just for Abby. For me.**_

XXX

Keeping one finger in the book to mark the page, Tim closed it and slumped back in his chair. It was getting harder and harder to keep reading. Each terrible memory from the last few years caused a surge of anguish when it was invoked by the words in Gibbs' journal. The memory of the loss of his father had been particularly bad, especially considering what he now knew about the secrets his father had kept.

Finally, after the pain had stared to fade, he opened the book yet again. He braced himself and started to read, through the reunion of the team, the various cases that followed, including the discovery of a traitor and loss of more agents, and finally the events that had caused such a schism between teammates that the team was broken once again. He read through Gibbs reaction to the loss and then recovery of Ziva, the tension that followed her return, and the new problems caused by Bell, Riviera, and the Reynosa Cartel, including Gibbs' time in Mexico. It was there that he learned something he hadn't even suspected at the time.

XXX

_**Someone tried to set me up for Pedro Hernandez's murder, and then used that set up to have members of his family target me and everyone important to me. It was almost perfect, how they framed me. I don't even now how they managed to do it, but they were thorough. The vamps have a greater influence on the cartels than we previously expected, and in fact some are willingly working for them. I can't say I have much pity for those people, but I'm sure they aren't aware of what is really at stake.**_

_**I also found out, while I was they guest of the cartel, that they're planning something big. I only got hints, but the fact that members of several cartels are working together does not bode well at all. Part of that plan is that they are targeting hunters, something that has apparently been going on for a few years.**_

_**Reynosa admitted the plan to me, if only to cause me more pain. Her brother kept her from killing me, only because he was worried more about the attention my death would receive. **_

_**And then the vamp in charge showed up to twist the knife a little bit more.**_

"_**We used to think you hunters were little more than a nuisance, but then you joined the game. Now it's time to eliminate the nuisance. We've been picking off hunters one by one so as not to draw attention to what we've been doing, and normally this would be too much of an opportunity to miss, but in the long run it would cause too much trouble," he told me. "Better it happens on neutral ground, and looks like an accident. Say, a hit and run. That worked quite well for your old friend."**_

"_**What old friend?" I asked, although I was afraid I already knew.**_

"_**I'll give you a hint: it was almost two years ago."**_

_**Then I knew for certain. Those bastards were responsible for Mark's death.**_

XXX

Tim felt bile rise in his throat and he almost threw the book across the room as he felt a surge of anger unlike anything he had felt before. He could fully understand Gibbs' rage now.

"I'm in, Boss. Whatever you need me to do, I'm in."

XXX

_**Ever since I got back from Mexico, I've been working on figuring out the big plan. I've got the major players all lined up, I know who holds the financial strings to most of their activities, and I have suspicions as to their plan, but I need someone who can sort through the information and make the connections concrete. Then, I need to track them down and disrupt their networks, isolate them, leave them powerless and penniless. I found out how much they rely on money now. It funds their networks, and their hold over certain politicians, people who are in power to make laws to benefit them and make their activities more profitable, but I still sense there's something more. **_

_**I've narrowed down the location of the major hub of operations. It's somewhere in the D.C. area, but that's as far as I could get with my skill set. I need to fit in the final pieces of the puzzle, and something tells me I'm running out of time. I'm going to have to ask for help. **_

_**I think it may be time to break my promise to Mark. **_

XXX

Tim turned to the next page and was surprised to see it was blank. There were no more entries, but when he looked at the final page he found, much to his surprise, an envelope, containing a CD, taped to the page. He hadn't even suspect Gibbs' would keep some of the information this way, and wondered how close he had been to asking for his junior agent's help.

He put the CD into his computer and starting pulling up his own notes. As he scanned through, he started to see connections, avenues of investigation that he could pursue. He was pretty sure—

"So can you do it, McGee?"

He didn't even jump this time.

"Yeah, Mike, I think I can. I'm not sure how long it will take, but-."

"I'm afraid we don't have much time. Jethro's death has sped up the time table, according to some of the chatter. Whatever they're doing, it's going to happen soon."

"How soon?"

"A couple of days, maybe."

Tim's heart sank. "I…I don't know if I can…"

"Would Gibbs have accepted that?"

"No. No, he wouldn't. I'm guessing you won't either."

"Nope."

Tim sighed. He could almost picture Gibbs' face as he demanded the impossible, time and time again. The image soon switched to his father, pushing his son to do more than expected, something that had served him well at NCIS. He owed both men so much…"

"OK. I'll do it. What will we do when I-?"

"Leave that up to me. Looks like you better get started, kid. I need to go. You OK?"

"I…yeah, I'm OK." He turned back to his computer and started to type, barely noticing when Mike left. He was focused, and he had a goal.

_I won't let you down._


	5. Part 4 Legacy

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_, _Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge_

Chapter 5 of 6

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

* * *

_**Part IV - Legacy**_

Tim worked steadily from dawn until dusk, only stopping to take care of the basic necessities, yet he didn't feel tired. His search had energized him and as he watched numbers and names scroll down the screen, he felt the grief, which had gripped him since the previous morning, loosen its hold slightly. He was doing something to help, something concrete, and that made all the difference in the world.

He had to admit, he'd been impressed by Gibbs' collection of data. It made his job much easier. He had found new connections, new sources of inquiry, and he imagined the whole thing mapped out as a giant web. What he needed to do was to eliminate the excess strands and find the main support structure, the major players who could reveal the final plan.

His cell phone rang and he checked the number before he set it back down without answering. It was Ziva, again. She had called twice before and he had let it go to voice mail, hoping she would get the hint and believe that he just wasn't in the mood to talk. She, at least, would respect that for awhile. Tony was a different story. He was just glad the man hadn't shown up at his door. He couldn't even imagine explain all this to the cynical senior, now likely _lead_, agent.

He tapped into an unexplored data stream and scanned through the information. He had been able to track the flow of funds from one group to the other, although the major purchases related to the plans still remained encrypted. He tried a stronger algorithm to break the encryption and continued his search. Finally one of the files opened and Tim scanned the information. Suddenly, he froze.

_Oh my God…_

He continued to read and scan, opening more threads and back tracing them to a common source. Finally he saw it: the final piece or the puzzle. The plan was perfectly, horribly clear.

He turned around and was not surprised to see Mike standing there, leaning against the doorway. For a brief moment, Tim wondered if Gibbs had learned that trick from his mentor.

"Any luck?"

"Yeah. Gibbs always told me, 'follow the money'. That's what I did, and…I found the connection. The plans were hidden in encrypted sections of financial records that connected companies on both coasts. I managed to break through the encryption and-." He felt a hand briefly connect with the back of his head and he looked up.

"The plan, McGee," said Mike, and Tim sighed.

"It's…crazy."

"Crazy is relative. What are they going to do?"

"OK, do you remember how so many logically opposed groups have been working together? The cartels, gangs, all of that? Their relationships have been tenuous at best."

"Yeah, I know."

"Right. OK, so each group has information on the others, but nothing that's all that important. What they've been doing is extracted the more sensitive information from each group and planting it in the networks of the groups that are supposedly working for them, so it looks like-."

"They're spying on each other. Go on."

"Once they have all of the connections in place, they're going to _leak_ the fact that the information is in the hands of the opposing groups, which will cause a massive backlash between the groups, and-."

"War in the streets. Damn it." Mike ran a hand through his hair and started to pace as Tim continued.

"In the mean time, they'll start pitting the more visible groups against each other. The police won't be able to handle the number of attacks or resulting riots, and once the police forces are overwhelmed, the vamps are going to start targeting law enforcement agencies, starting at the local level and moving up. They won't be able to stop the crime rate from rocketing skyward, and when the public starts to see the agencies and the government running them as ineffective…"

"They'll put someone more powerful in charge-."

"Who will take complete control. Humans will be at the mercy of the vampires."

"They've been setting this up for years. An all-out brawl and they'll be on the sidelines, egging it on, until no-one has the energy left to fight them. I'll be damned…"

"They've been stockpiling materials to make explosives, and the first major attack on a visible target is scheduled to take place soon, but I don't have the exact time. All I know is that there's a hub for communication to coordinate the attacks. If we can destroy that hub-."

"We can cut them off from each other and stop the execution of at least some of their plans." He stopped pacing and turned to Tim. "Do we know where this hub is?"

"It's in D.C. I traced the signals back to one place. We should make sure it's not a decoy first, but-."

"It's not."

"How do you know?"

"One thing about vamps: they're cocky. It's been their downfall in the past, trust me, but they just don't seem to learn."

"And what if they did learn?"

"Then we're screwed."

Tim sagged in his chair. He couldn't deal with it if they failed. They _couldn't_ fail. There was too damn much at stake.

"Is there any way to tell if this is a decoy?"

"Only if I had direct access to it. The firewalls they've set up make me think they _are_ protecting something important, but I can't get through them without leading them directly to me."

Mike paused to think.

"What else could you do if you had direct access?"

"I could corrupt the system so their network would crumble, including their financial connections which have been funding all of this."

The old vampire suddenly grinned. "More than one way to take down a vamp. They've been living high for too long and depending too much on the power that money gives them. Take that away and we've hit them with a double whammy. Sounds like a plan, kid. Give me a few hours to do some recognizance and we'll get started."

"A few hours?"

"Hey, we've known something was going down, we just didn't have the specifics. Now the blanks are starting to fill in." He patted Tim on the shoulder. "You did good, kid. Now get some rest. You're going to need it." He left, and Tim turned back to his screen. There was something else he wanted to do with the information he discovered. He just hoped he had enough time to set it up.

XXX

A sudden banging sound startled Tim from his reverie and he looked towards the source with apprehension. He doubted a vampire would knock, and Mike seemed to have his own way into Tim's apartment, so who…

"_C'mon, Probie, open the damn door!"_

_Crap. That's_ just _what I need!_ He knew from experience that Tony would not just go away, so he got up and went to the front door as he tried to come up with a plan to get rid of the older man quickly.

He opened the door and was surprised to see that Tony was not alone.

"Tony, Ziva, what are you doing here?"

"Why did you not answer your phone, McGee? I called several times."

"Sorry, Ziva, I didn't feel like talking. You didn't need to waste a trip over here."

"We were worried, McGee."

"I'm fine…well, as fine as can be expected."

"What are you up to?" asked Tony as he managed to get past Tim and into the apartment. "Computer games? Seriously?"

Tim looked back at the screen saver that had popped up on his computer and sighed. "No, Tony, it's not a game." _And there's more truth to that than I hope you ever realize._ "I just…I'm dealing with it in my own way."

"And how exactly is that?"

"Vengeance."

Both men turned to stare at Ziva. She was studying Tim closely, and she seemed satisfied with her brief summary.

"What are you talking about, Ziva?" asked Tony as he glanced back and forth between his two teammates.

"Vengeance, revenge, pay-up, whatever you want to call it."

"It's pay-_back_, Ziva. And what makes you think that?" asked Tim, trying to quell his rising panic. He did not want these two involved in his plans that would most likely get them _all_ killed if he wasn't careful.

"I can see it in your eyes, McGee. Believe me, I know that look. You know something about what happened to Gibbs, and you've figured out how to make sure someone pays."

"Ziva, please, I…you two can't help me. I'm sorry."

"Never apologize-."

"It's a sign of weakness," finished Mike as he appeared in the doorway.

Tony spun around. "_Franks_? What the hell are you doing here? What have you gotten McGee into?"

"I'm guessing you haven't told them," said Mike as he looked at Tim.

"And I wasn't planning to. Look, guys, please. You need to leave. I'm handling this."

"Like hell you are," snapped Tony. "In case you haven't noticed, Gibbs meant quite a bit to both of us, too. You're not doing this on your own, whatever it is."

Tim gave Mike a pleading look, but he just grinned. "Might as well tell them, kid. I don't think you'll get any peace until you do."

Tim saw the expressions on his teammates' faces and sighed. "How much time do we have?"

"Enough for the short version."

"OK, fine. You better come in and sit down. Trust me, you don't want to be standing when I tell you."

Tony and Ziva both shot him the same worried expression before they stepped into the main room and settled into two chairs near his desk.

"OK, Probie, shoot. What's the deal?"

Tim glanced at Mike and he nodded.

"I…Gibbs had Mike bring me his personal journals, one of those 'in case of my death' arrangements."

"OK…" Tony already looked like he was fighting disbelief. This wasn't going to end well.

"These contained a record of his…hobby, one we didn't even know about."

"Might want to get to the point, kid," said Mike, who looked like he was almost enjoying this.

"Gibbs, he, uh…hunted. He'd been hunting since he was a kid, and-."

"What does this have to do with what happened?" asked Ziva.

"Well, what he hunted…that's what was responsible. For his…death."

"What the hell are you talking about, McGee? How…what did he hunt?"

"Vampires."

Both turned to stare at Mike, but Tony was the first to recover.

"OK, that's it. If this is your idea of a joke, then-."

"It's not a joke, Tony."

"Sure, OK, you're telling me that there are such things as vampires, and Gibbs hunted them, and one of them killed him? That's just-."

"Crazy? Yeah, tell me about it. Unfortunately it's the truth…no offense, Mike."

Mike just smirked.

"McGee, do you honestly expect us to believe-?"

"Yes."

Tony laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"I'm out of here. You can keep your crazy delusions and-." He turned and came face to face with Mike, in full vampire mode. "JESUS-!"

"No, not even close," snarked Mike. Tony backed away and almost wound up in Ziva's lap as she just stared in shock. Mike returned to normal and Tim sighed.

"You'll get used to that, eventually. Or at least I hope so."

"You…you...you're a…?"

"Quite the investigator there, DiNozzo," said Mike with a grin. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I think it's time to get going. I'll let you walk your teammates out, kid."

"Got it. Sorry, guys, but we-."

"I want in."

Tim turned to his teammate in surprise.

"Ziva?"

"Whatever you are doing, I want to be a part of it. I do not care who…or what I have to work with to get the job done. Gibbs deserves justice."

"I think she can handle it, kid."

Tim sighed. This was the last thing he had wanted. "What will you need her to do?"

"She can be your backup. You'll need someone to watch your six while you work your magic."

"I can do that. Let us go." She turned to walk to the door.

"Wait."

They all turned to Tony, who seemed to have recovered somewhat.

"I'm in, too."

"Tony…"

"Forget it, Probie. If you two are in, I'm in. I'll deal with the…rest of it later."

"Looks like that's settled. Do you have everything you need, Tim?"

Tim turned back to his computer and removed the flash drive. "I'm ready."

"Good. Time to meet the rest of the posse."

"Posse? Do I even want to know?" asked Tony as he paled slightly.

"Probably not."

XXX

The ride to the place that housed the network hub was quiet and tense. Tim was uneasy about being in a closed in space (they had brought a panel truck to carry the group and whatever it was they had hidden in the front under a tarp) with eight vampires, even though he knew that, technically, they were all on the same side.

Ziva, on his left, had remained completely silent. He worried about her quick acceptance of the situation and that she was trying to hold too much in. He knew that was her normal way of coping with tense situations, but this was even worse than usual. _Then again, this isn't exactly a normal situation._

Tony, on his right, was also quiet, but his uneasy attention was focused on the vampire seated across from him. Trent Kort just smirked and stared back.

When they had gathered at the truck, a glimpse of silver hair had made Tim's heart lurch into his throat until he realized that it belonged to a man that was only vaguely familiar. Jasper Shepard was as quiet as the rest, but seemed more nervous. He was the youngest vampire of the bunch, and still somewhat gun-shy after his experience with the opposing team, according to Mike. Tim just hoped they all knew what they were doing and were ready to do it. He had heard whispers of a plan, but nothing concrete.

"Just do your part, kid. Let us worry about the rest."

"Right…"

"We'll get you in. We scouted the place and there's a fairly direct access to the area which probably holds the server. You get in, do what you need to do, and get out. With your teammates, of course."

"And then what?"

"You'll see."

The rest of the ride was silent.

XXX

The building, an old meat-packing plant, was strangely quiet. Tim, Ziva, and Tony, armed with three wooden stakes each, followed one of the other vampires through a series of passageways until the reached a large room that held several server towers. Tim found an open terminal and started to work as Tony and Ziva paced. He was able to shut them out and concentrated on his work. As soon as he had one of the programs he had written loaded, he sat back to wait.

Finally Tony broke the silence.

"I still can't believe…"

"Yeah, I can understand that."

"So why…why did Gibbs tell you about all this?" Tim could hear the faintest tone of hurt in Tony's voice and he understood. Tony had been much closer to the man and was wondering if he had done something to remove himself from Gibbs' confidences. Tim didn't want him to suffer so he decided to tell him what he had learned.

"Gibbs saved my father's life, back when he was still in the Navy. He saved him from a vampire, actually, and my father decided that he wanted to hunt them, too."

"Your father was a vampire hunter?"

"Yep. And they killed him for it."

"Oh, man, Probie. I-."

"Don't worry about it. I'm…dealing with it."

Ziva stopped pacing for a moment. "Is that why Gibbs was killed? Because of the vampires he hunted?"

"Yeah, pretty much, Ziva."

She swore softly in Hebrew and went back to pacing.

"How much longer, McGee? This place gives me the creeps."

Tim checked the program progress and smiled. "One down, one to go."

"So what are we doing here? And a better question, what are they doing here? The bad vampires?"

"Trust me, you really don't want to know."

"Yeah, I do."

"They're trying to take control of us. We're trying to stop them. That's pretty much it."

"So what happens if this works?"

"We've slowed them down, at least. I guess we'll have to start taking down the rest of them who were part of this that we don't get this time."

"'We'? Sounds like you've decided to be a hunter, too."

Tim thought for a moment. "It's like our real job, Tony. We do what needs to be done to keep the criminals at bay, at least as much as we can. For this, I'll do as much as I can."

"You mean '_we_ will do as much as _we_ can'," said Ziva.

"Guys, look-."

"We are still a team, are we not? We are still Gibbs' team."

"Damn straight," said Tony with a grin. "Team Gibbs: Vampire Hunters."

"As long as we can, at least." Tim felt the grief re-awaken. "I don't know what will happen when we go back to work. We've been split up before."

"Not if I can help it," muttered Tony. "We belong as a team. Then again, Vance will probably offer you your own team. What then?"

"Let us worry about that when the time comes," interrupted Ziva. "Right now we have to worry about getting out of _here_ in one piece, yes?"

"Good point. How much longer, Probie?"

Tim checked the progress, hit a few more keys, and removed the flash drive. "Done. System failure should occur right about…now." The screens all went dark, and Tim managed a smile.

"Attaboy, McGenius. Now let's get-."

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The voice which penetrated the gloom was low and rough, but a smirk could be heard behind it. "Free lunch? So nice of you to provide."

They all stood and faced the vampire as he emerged from the darkness. "Do you really know how to use those, children? I don't think you do."

"I think we get the idea," replied Tony. Now why don't you let us walk out of here before we-."

"Before you _what?_ Attempt to get revenge. That's why you're here, isn't it? To find the man who killed your boss? Well, 'man' is slightly inaccurate, as you may have guessed," he said as his fangs descended. The three teammates drew closer together and this time it was Ziva who responded.

"I do not believe it will be an attempt. It will be done."

The vamp laughed. "So who gets the first shot? You, little girl? Lost the closet thing to a daddy you ever had. So pathetic."

With a low growl Ziva launched herself at the vampire, stake in hand, only to be swatted aside. She crashed to the ground a few feet away.

"No!" yelled Tony as he tried to get to her, but Tim held him back. "Just wait," he whispered. Trust me."

"That all you've got? What about you, then: the right-hand man? Tried so hard to be just like the Boss that you lost yourself along the way. That's right, I know a hell of a lot more about you, _all _of you, than you know about me." He smirked and met Tim's gaze. "And you, the geek. You have double the reason for wanting me dead. I killed your father, too, you know." Tim felt his jaws clench and his vision clouded, but he managed not to attack. "It was barely an effort, really. He was getting too old, should have quit while he was ahead, but he continued to be a…nuisance."

Tim finally managed to respond. "My father…was a good man."

"Not anymore."

Tim shook his head. "You know, people…evil _things_ like you, they always manage to make the same mistake."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"No one ever has your back." The vamp broke eye contact and turned just as another vampire slammed into him. Tim and Tony barely avoided the grappling pair and immediately ran over to Ziva, who was just beginning to wake up.

"Not a smart move, Ziva," muttered Tony as he helped her up.

"It was a distraction, Tony. It worked, did it not?" she asked groggily.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go." They both helped her up and they started for the exit as quickly as they could. Suddenly something slammed into them from behind and they all went rolling away from each other. Tim hit the wall and lay, stunned, until something grabbed him and pulled him to his feet and he found himself face to face with the vampire.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he pushed Tim back to the ground. Tim managed to get to his feet and take a few steps back as the vampire prepared to charge. This was it. This was the end.

_Sorry, Dad…Gibbs. I tried._

"_Tim, catch!"_

He responded to the command on instinct, turning to catch the object as it came hurtling towards him. He turned the stake in his hands, turned back around, and sank it into the vamp's chest just as it reached him. It stared down at the stake and then back at him with wide, black, inhuman eyes. He met its gaze.

"That was for my Dad," he said, and then, with all his strength, gave the stake a hard twist. "And that was for my Boss." He stepped back and watched the vamp fall to the ground, disintegrating into a blackened corpse before his eyes. He took several deep breaths, trying to throw up right there. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Tony.

"Nice one, Tim."

"T-thanks. Thanks for getting the stake to me."

Tony gave him a puzzled look. "What stake? I got here just as you shish-kabobbed the bastard."

"Then who…?"

"No idea, but let's get the hell out of here. I have an idea that something very bad is about to happen to this place. C'mon."

"Ziva?"

"She's fine. Let's go."

Tim took one last look back, but saw nothing but darkness. Finally, he turned and followed Tony.

XXX

They made it outside just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. The truck was still in the same place, and they scrambled inside. Most of the vamps were already there, but two were missing: Mike and Trent Kort. Finally, they emerged from the building and ran to the truck. Kort climbed into the driver's seat and Mike got in the back. The truck pulled away with the back door still open, giving them a clear view of the building as they drove off. Suddenly the truck slowed and stopped.

"Everyone hang on," said Mike with a grin.

"What-?" Tony didn't get to finish his sentence before the building exploded.

Tim immediately covered his ears and ducked, but soon he had to look up. He just _had_ to. The building, what was left of it, was engulfed in flames. Tim turned to look at his companions and saw that Tony and Ziva were staring, wide-eyed, at the conflagration. Tony turned to Tim and grinned.

"Hey, Probie?"

"What?"

He waggled his fingers. "How much do you think we should charge them for this?"

Tim stared at Tony, unbelieving. _Of all the movies he could have quoted…_Finally he just shook his head and laughed.

"You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"Yep."

Finally Mike closed the door and the truck started to drive away as he turned to Tim.

"I take it you did what you came to do?"

"Yep. Plus a little more."

"What do you mean?"

"I destroyed the network, but before that, I drained all of their associated bank accounts. If they manage to start up here again, they'll have to do it with no money." He managed a faint smile.

"So where is the money?" asked Tony.

"Re-distributed."

"To whom?"

"Families of all the victims listed in Gibbs' journal. It's not enough, it would _never_ be enough, but it's better than nothing."

Mike chuckled. "Your Dad would be proud of ya, kid. Gibbs would, too."

"Thanks. So is that it? Did we do enough to stop them?"

"We took out a major chunk of the resources, but they are still going to be out there, rebuilding."

"Then I guess we'll have to stop them. Permanently."

"We?"

"All of us. This is Gibbs' legacy, and we're going to uphold it, for as long as we can. Right guys?"

Tony and Ziva both nodded and smiled. Mike checked his watch.

"Well, looks like you'll all have just enough time to get cleaned up and get to work."

"Work?"

"At NCIS. You'll have to keep that job, you know. There's not a lot of money in revenge," he said with a grin and Ziva and Tim both groaned.

"You're rubbing off on him, Tony. Something tells me that's a _very_ bad thing."

"C'mon, Probie, you love it and you know it."

Tim just shook his head, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

One part of the job was over. They had gotten vengeance for Gibbs…and his father. He knew there was still more, that there would probably always be more, but right now he could just take a moment and push it from his mind.

He tried, but he couldn't, and reality settled in. They still had work to do.

* * *

A/N: Movies quoted: Tony -_ The Lost Boys_; Mike - _The Princess Bride_


	6. Epilogue

_**Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter**_

Written for the NFA _Supernatural Challenge_, _Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge_

Chapter 6 of 6

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

* * *

_**Epilogue**_

Tim stepped off the elevator into the bullpen and cautiously glanced around. The area where his team sat was empty, and the rest of the agents on the floor seemed subdued. He understood that the loss of a lead agent had affected them all, and they in turn understood that none of them had been affected as much as Gibbs' team. Unable to stand the pitying looks he was receiving, Tim dropped his stuff off at his desk and returned to the elevator, headed for the basement.

He walked into autopsy and was surprised to find it empty. He stared at the wall of morgue doors, wondering which held what he was looking for. Soon his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Timothy. What are you doing down here so early?"

He turned to face the M.E.

"Hey, Ducky. I…I wanted to…"

"Say goodbye to Jethro?"

"Well…yes, but I didn't know where…where he is."

Ducky gave him a regretful look. "I'm sorry, lad, but he is no longer here. I released him to the funeral home last night, and no doubt he is in Stillwater by now. I understand that the service will be the day after tomorrow."

"Stillwater? Why won't he be buried…with his wife and daughter?"

"It was part of his final request: he wanted to go home. And he won't be buried. He requested cremation."

"Oh." Tim took a moment to study the older man's face and felt a blush of shame. "I'm sorry, Ducky. I know this has to be hard for you, and I-."

"It's all right, Timothy. I do understand. Jethro was…one of a kind. He impacted many people during his lifetime, and we all handle his passing differently." Tim could only nod in agreement. "But I trust that we will all honor him in our own way."

"Yeah…yes, we will. Thanks, Ducky." He headed back to the elevator and stepped through the metal doors, not noticing the strange expression on the medical examiner's face.

When he got back to the bullpen, Ziva was at her desk. She looked up at him with a guarded expression in her eyes.

"The Director would like to see you in his office as soon as possible. Tony is with him already."

_Doesn't waste time, now does he?_ Tim thought bitterly.

"OK. Anything else I need to know?"

"The funeral is the day after tomorrow. We have been given leave to go."

"Yeah, Ducky told me. Will you…are you OK, Ziva?"

"Honestly? No. But I will manage. Thank you for your concern, McGee. You had better go. Director Vance seemed very anxious to talk to you."

"Right."

He walked up the stairs and made his way to the Director's office. Vance's secretary let him in the door without comment and once inside he saw Tony standing in front of Vance's desk. The older agent nodded at him before returning his attention to Vance as the Director started to speak.

"Agent McGee, first let me offer my condolences. I know how much Agent Gibbs meant to his team, and this is a terrible loss for us all."

"Yes, Director. Thank you."

"Unfortunately this agency cannot stop operations because of such a loss. We need to decide what to do with you and the rest of Gibbs' team."

"We're still a team," Tim blurted out before he could stop himself and flushed slightly. "Sorry, Director, I spoke out of turn."

"Quite understandable, Agent McGee. Agent DiNozzo has expressed the same sentiment."

Tim glanced at Tony, but he did not return the gaze.

"Since Agent DiNozzo is the most experienced, he would be in line to be the new team leader. However, you have many years of experience as well, and are, I feel, deserving of your own team. This would of course require a transfer-."

"With all due respect, sir, no thank you."

"Agent McGee?"

"I…I do not feel that I am ready at this time, and I would prefer to stay in my current position."

"Even if you did stay here, you would not stay in your current position. You would take over the senior agent position vacated by Agent DiNozzo."

"I've done it before, Director."

"Yes, I know. You realize you are turning down an excellent career advancement opportunity?"

"I do, sir, but there are some things that are more important. We've been a team for a long time. You cannot deny that we are an effective team, even if we…_bend_ the rules from time to time. I feel that it would be a disservice to the agency to remove such an asset."

Vance stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Interesting. Agent DiNozzo once again expressed the same opinion, as did Agent David. I will take it under advisement. You are both dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," they replied in unison and left the office.

When they had returned to their desks, Tony turned to Tim.

"Were you serious? You'd turn down your own team to-?"

"As I told the Director, some things are more important. We have work to do."

Tony grinned. "That we do, Probie."

Tim shook his head and managed a smile. It was almost comforting that at least _some_ things would never change.

XXX

Tim unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside before re-locking the door. He managed a weak smile at the irony. The worst things he had to fear wouldn't be stopped by a simple lock, but old habits die hard.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, he dropped his bag by his writing desk, lowered himself into his favorite chair, and leaned back before closing his eyes. It had been one hell of a day, and it looked like it wasn't going to get much better in the near future. There were so many things to which he had to adjust: the loss of Gibbs, his new position on the team, and the thing he had never expected, his new unofficial job passed on to him by his former team leader. It was a lot to take in, but he would manage, as he always had. He thought about his own father and the secrets he had kept. He only hoped he could be as successful in keeping them. While he understood the danger that was out there, he also remembered what it was like to be innocent, to _not_ know about the existence of vampires, and he had to admit he still wished for that. He vowed that no one else would lose that innocence if he could help it.

"A worthy goal, if I do say so myself."

Startled, Tim turned towards the familiar voice and let out a short huff of laughter.

"I really hate when you do that, Mike." The vampire stood in the shadows but he was still recognizable. He grinned as another voice broke the awkward silence.

"I always hated it, too."

Tim stared, unbelieving, as another figure emerged from the darkness.

"_B-boss?"_

"Not anymore."

Gibbs stepped closer and Tim almost fell out of his chair trying to back away. The man's ice-blue eyes briefly flipped to black. His normally ruddy complexion was now marble-white, and a half smile revealed the tips of his fangs.

"But…how…Ducky said he sent you…your _body _to the funeral home. How-?"

"Funny thing about that. Turns out Ducky already did know about vampires. It wasn't all that hard to persuade him to help cover for me, really."

"But you said…you wrote that you never wanted to be one. Why-?"

"I figured, I still have a job to do. Now I'll just be working the night-shift…for a few years, at least. Turns out Mike finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"B-but-."

"Thank you, Tim, for what you did. You were able to put together the pieces I couldn't. You fought the good fight, and from what I understand you're going to continue. You and the rest of my team. So, again, thank you."

"No…no problem."

Gibbs smirked, now looking slightly more human. "I doubt that. You did good, McGee."

"Wait. You were there, weren't you? You're the one who threw the stake." Gibbs just gave him one of his trademark lop-sided grins and nodded.

"T-thanks."

"I help when I can, and for as long as you need me, understood?" Tim nodded. "Guess I'll be seeing you around. Next time I'll knock, though. The surprise entry was Mike's idea."

"Sure, Probie, blame me," Mike said with fake annoyance in his voice. Gibbs gave one final smirk and left.

Tim finally managed to get over most of his shock and was able to voice the question he wanted, no, _needed_ to ask the old vampire.

"How could you do that, Mike? He told you several times not to give him that choice. So why did you do it, to Gibbs, of all people?"

"It's very simple, kid," said Mike with a feral grin. "Some people are just too interesting to die."

THE END

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The final line is credit to Seth Grahame-Smith (from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). No infringement intended, but I just couldn't resist.

Thanks for reading!


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